A conventional method of manufacturing a multiple chip resistor is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-30409 as shown in FIGS. 31 to 33. In the method, both sides of a substrate 120 of a pre-baked green sheet of, e.g., a ceramic material is provided with longitudinal slit lines 122 and traverse slit lines 123. The substrate is separated along the longitudinal slit lines 122 into rectangular strips each of which includes chips 121 which are connected. Each strip is separated along the traverse slit lines 123 into the chips 121. Substantially-oval apertures 128 are provided at the intersections between the longitudinal slit lines 122 and the traverse slit lines 123 and/or intermediates across the longitudinal slit lines 122 in the substrate 120. Then, the substrate 120 is baked and divided along the longitudinal slit lines 122 into the strips. Then, a pair of electrode terminals 127 extending to both the upper and lower sides of each chip are provided on both edges along the longitudinal slit lines 122 of each chip of the strip. Then, a resistor film 124 is printed on the upper side of the chip so as to partially overlap the electrode terminals 127, is baked, and is subjected to laser trimming. Then, the resistor film 124 is covered with a glass coating.
In the conventional method of manufacturing the multiple chip resistor, the substrate 120 as a green sheet is provided with the longitudinal slit lines 122, the traverse slit lines 123, and the substantially oval apertures 128 and is then baked. This method may cause a variation in the composition of the substrate 120 and a change in its baking temperature, thus resulting in dimensional errors of the longitudinal slit lines 122, the traverse slit lines 123, and the oval apertures 128. In order to avoid the above errors by the conventional method, the chips on the substrate are classified by their dimensions into levels in a longitudinal direction and a traverse direction, and then, various screen printing masks corresponding to the levels for the electrode terminals 127, the resistor film 124, and the glass coating are prepared. The screen printing masks have to be replaced from one to another with reference to the levels of the dimensional classification of the chips on the substrate, thus making the resistor hard to manufacture.